Do you guys who own high-end knives, also buy cheap knives?

Sometimes I do buy a cheap knife to do some of my "dirty work". I always try to use a SAK to cut tape on boxes, etc. I hate the way the glue sticks to a blade. That way I save my "good knife" for the real cutting stuff.

But I also must fess up about buying cheap/junk knives. I usualy buy 1-2 cheapies per year. At least once a year me and some friends spend a weekend pier fishing. I always go buy 1-2 cheap/junk knives to use for a bait knife. That way if someone walks off with it, it falls over the rail, someone needs to borrow a knife, etc, I don't worry about it. And when I'm done I usually throw it away of give it to one of the other guys who never seem to have a knife. It's rarely ever kept.
 
In the last few years I have been picking up alot of in expensive blades. Schrade pocket knives from the U.S. only though. Used to sell and carry them in my younger days and they bring back alot of good times.
 
I don't shop for a specific price-range, I look at all of the knives in the store, from the $10.00 cheapies to the $400.00 Sebbies.

But before buying a knife I have to ask myself if it is better than what I'm already carrying (materials, craftsmanship, blade-steel)?

And if the answer is no, then I don't buy it.

But if the answer is yes, then I have to decide if the price is right.
I have discovered that Spyderco and Victorinox set the bar very high in the "bang for buck" category.

Allen.
 
Yes, i did buy "cheap" knives in the last few months. Not that they are cheap made, they are at a low price offering good function.

The best was a slip joint for around $15,00.

It features bone slabs and a 3mm convex ground blade made from 0,7% carbon steel. No blade play and stays open strong. On the same side: It is a bit hard to open.

Fit has some draw backs but they don´t affect function.

I really like it and it has its place in my package if i am in need of a super sharp edge (my edc has a less than super sharp edge).


BTW, what does this new icon :jerkit: mean? Is it considerd to malfunctioning OTFs?
 
Pretty well what everyone else has said. I buy inexpensive as opposed to cheap - bang for the buck in other words. My two most expensive are probably my Spydie Paramilitary and Al Mar SERE 2K, but I also have Vics, Opinel, Ka-Bar/Dozier folding hunter, Spydie Byrds at the other end. I also have Benchmades, Bucks, CRKT, Kershaw, etc in the between. Gotta love Spyderco for giving you a shot a super steels that are within reach of the average pocketbooks:D I love playing with new designs, but quality, usability, affordability all have to be there as well.

- gord
 
Hair said:
Every country has bad people, especially in government. Even America. I'll keep buying Chinese knives. Thanks.
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I agree with this. Absolutely. However, different bad people in government do very different things. Some of them could steal your money, some could murder millions of their own citizens just because citizens do not share government point of view.
Most of the people on the west do not know how communist government function and prefer do not know. However, I know I lived there for 35 years.
Chinese government making a lot of money on the trade and money well spend on weapons bought from Russians, not bad weapon at all and inexpensive. Some of these weapons are defensive, not most. What do they need these weapons for?
Now it is up to us to help them or not.
I hope you do not have any illusions that Russia and China are not our friends.
They certainly do not see us as friends.
 
Hair said:
Every country has bad people, especially in government. Even America. I'll keep buying Chinese knives. Thanks.
Click to expand...


Like I said, you're free to buy what you want - here in good ol' USA, at least. Yes, we have bad people in our government, but our government isn't bad. The same cannot be said of China. They're a totaltarian communist society, and our purchases of Chinese goods enable it.

I'll get off of my soapbox now.

Lots of good, "cheap" knives made in the GOOD China - Taiwan. I have a really nice (for the price) CRKT Mirage that some dealer at a gun show sold me for $15.00. Even at regular price, there are a lot of these CRKTs (for but one example) that qualify as both "cheap" and "good".
 
No "cheap" knives for me, only good quality. Not a collector, all my knives are used for any job. I don't keep any of them cherry, in fact I'm bit of a snob (bons?) about that. But I did spring for a Kamp King, lately. A friend bought a box of picked over slip joint trash knives for 50¢ each and this one was the best of the lot.

It was a nostalgia buy. My first knife was a Kamp King purchased from paper route money at age 12. It served me very well for the next 15 years until I impusively gave it away to a girl friend, who promptly lost it.
It's replacement was a SAK, the beginning of a very slippery slope ;)

Anymore, Kamp Kings are common as mud, available in good condition for $2.50 or less almost anywhere. Actually, the KK is a pretty serviceable unit. So I rigged up a shoelace lanyard, just like in the old days, attached it to the bail and hung the little widget in my pocket as an EDC for the next week. It was good, then I put it away.

So 50¢ bought me a little trip down memory lane. Maybe I'm a collector, after all :D
 
If you buy a knife to use - don't buy a "cheap" one. Usually, they are not sharp and you can not get a good edge on them. Because they are not sharp and the metal is usually poor quality cast stuff you'll "force" them, they'll break or you'll slip hurting you or someone else.

That said, there are losts of inexpensive ($10-$50) knives of high quality knives (like SAK's, Spyderco's, Kershaw's etc).

If its just to sit under glass or hang on a wall, there's nothing wrong with those cute "United" collectables.

To each thier own.
 
You guys make good points, but I won't *not* buy something just because of the country of origin.

People make knives, not countries. Countries are just lines drawn in the sand by power-hungry people. I love America, but I care about (all) people, not what lines they live in. I am not saying that by buying Chinese-made knives I am really helping poor Chinese people or that I am not helping the corrupt Chinese government. But any time you buy anything the money ends up at the top. And the people at the top are rarely very nice.

I much prefer to put my money into a company that I think has integrity. But I will not pass up a great knife at a great price such as a Buck Mayo Cutback just because it was made within the border lines of China. If the Chinese government gets 10 of my 30 bucks, well that sucks, but I don't think it will mean China will have the means to take over America where they wouldn't have if I didn't buy that knife. Yes, this arguement is similar to people that don't vote because their vote doesn't matter. The counter arguement is that if everyone had the same view, then no one would vote and the system wouldn't work. And it is true that if no Americans bought Chinese products that their economy would be much worse off. However, the people of China would also be much worse off, so it is a two-edged sword and not a matter of laziness like not voting.

Every government, business, and person has a degree of evilness. It varies, but where do you draw the line? I do try to give my money to good people, and I wouldn't buy a knife from Hilter because he's low on cash and needs cigerettes. But buying a Chinese-made knife isn't the same as putting cash in Hitler's hand. Some may end up there, but some goes elseware. I think some of what I spend always goes to someone corrupt. I pay taxes. If I wanted to avoid my money going to evil people, I could never spend a dime.

You could argue that I should only buy knives from custom makers with nice personalities since they get the money directly. But what will they buy with it? Will they buy anything from Wal*Mart? Do they (the custom maker) have any dark secrets? Maybe he is a nice guy but perhaps he used to beat his wife?

Of course I can do my best and avoid makers that I know are bad people, but I think saying "buying a Chinese knife gives your money to bad people" is a huge simplification. There are too many people in China and too many companies to equate buying a Chinese knife with, say, buying a custom knife from a known wife beater.
 
I have an m-tech knife that i paid 7 bucks for online it real nice and i know people have had the same knife for a while
 
I measure value by quality. To some the knives that I own may be considered as "cheap" knives - Buck 110, Victorinox Soldier, Buck 371 Stockman, Spyderco Delica, Spyderco Ladybug..... I love them all.

Used to be a hugh fan of knives with high tech material (and high price tags). Now somehow I feel that to me at least for the price that level of knives is not really worthy for me to pay for cutting tools. Now I pay attention on the quality better - a good knife is a good knife doesn't matter how "cheap" it is in dollar amount, if it is good I will treat it as jewel always.

But no, I won't buy any cheap knives made of bad material with bad construction, even for only a cent it is still a waste of money - and also a sign of self-disrepect as a knife person if owning those. :D
 
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